Saturday, November 22, 2014

Orphan Paper-Pieced Blocks

Back in the 2000's, I designed a foundation paper pieced Aleph Bet (Hebrew alphabet), based on calligraphy principles, and made a couple of quilts from it, like this one wallhanging (about 34" x 28"):
I put the e-pattern for sale on my website, and have received images of quilts made from it, including this one by a wonderful quilter named Wayne:
I also used the pattern to spell out 'Shalom': 
Very gratifying! Designing such a complex quilt meant lots of experimenting and discards. I wound up with a stack of leftovers, including these:  
Here's a closer look at the aleph (first letter of the Hebrew alphabet), front: 
And the back, with most of the paper pattern still in place, 
I stuffed the orphaned blocks in a file, where they sat for about six years, until this week, when I decided to participate in a Hanukah boutique at a local temple.

I took two orphan hamsa blocks that were not fails, added borders, quilted them, put on a hanging loop or sleeve (respectively), and voila! 
 The second one has a button eye in the center:
They're quilted with gold metalic thread, and are about 10" square. 

Here's what the hamsa pattern looks like. It's one of the most complicated patterns in the set. 
That's 22 pieces! Most of the letter patterns have far less!

(If you're interested in making your own, the epattern is sold in my Etsy shop,  as well as from my Judaiquilt shop, here.)

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